Grace Interrupted by Julie Hyzy

In Grace Interrupted, a group of Civil War re-enactors have set up on the grounds around Marshfield Manor. When one of the them turns up dead, Grace's groundskeeper and love interest, Jack, is suspected of the murder. Even though Grace is convinced he's not guilty, things don't look good when details of Jack's past are revealed. Grace wants desperately to prove Jack's innocence and find the culprit all while keeping things running smoothly at the manor.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Right from the first chapter, there was no doubt in my mind that this was going to be an enjoyable read. Besides the well-paced plot, it had all of the things a perfect cozy mystery should have including a well-written, intelligent, witty, fun to read story and a wonderful, likeable cast of characters.

I like how this series is progressing. In this instalment, Hyzy has introduced two new interesting characters: Davie, Jack's brother, and Bootsie, a tuxedo kitten Grace found on her doorstep. I hope she has plans to keep these two around for awhile. It'll be interesting to see if Davie fits in at the manor. It'll also be great to see what mischief Bootsie gets into as kittens are prone to do. In addition to these new characters, Hyzy has included some more information about Grace, her background and her feelings about her past, present and future. I particularly enjoyed getting to know Grace better.

I really liked Frances, Grace's assistant. Even though she's a little gruff and rough with Grace, I loved her reserved enthusiasm for her undercover work at the camp. Her antics and attitude were entertaining. She's certainly made herself indispensible around the manor.

One thing that I found a little unrealistic was that Grace was able to find who was she looking for at the camp right away, even though there were at least 3000 people there. This happened a number of times. That's quite the talent, considering I have trouble finding my husband in Wal-Mart.

New words:
docents (page 4): tourist guide
peplum (page 208): flared part at the waist (of a jacket or blouse)
snood (page 209): decorative hair net

I've read two other books by Hyzy: Grace Under Pressure (my review) and Buffalo West Wing (my review) and loved them both.

Highly recommended. I can't wait for the next book in this series.

For more information about this book, please visit Penguin'swebsite.

For more information about the author and her other books, please visit Julie Hyzy's website.

Thanks to Dana Kaye from Kaye Publicity for this review copy.

Grace Interrupted by Julie Hyzy, The Berkley Publishing Group (Penguin), ©2011. ISBN 9780425241905(mass market), 278p.